Dowd (O'Dowd), Dan
Dowd (O'Dowd), Dan (1903–89), uilleann piper and pipe-maker, was born 5 March 1903 at 13 Paul Street, in the Liberties in Dublin, son of Daniel Dowd and his wife, Catherine, née Davis. Having learned to play the war pipes at the School of Music in Chatham Row, he joined the local James…...
Doyle, Jack
Doyle, Jack (1913–78), boxer, actor, singer and playboy, was born Joseph Alphonsus Doyle, 31 August 1913 at 12 Queen Street, Queenstown, Co. Cork, eldest son among four sons and two daughters of Michael Doyle, sailor, of Queenstown, and Anastasia Doyle. His schooling, at St Joseph's…...
Doyle, James Michael
Doyle, James Michael (1906–97), musician, soldier, and administrator, was born 24 August 1906, the eldest son and second of seven children of James Michael Doyle (1864–1946), chief clerk to ships’ chandlers McCann Verdon, and his wife Lucy Josephine née Brady (1881–1965), of 13 Iona…...
Drew, Ronnie (Joseph Ronald Augustine)
Drew, Ronnie (Joseph Ronald Augustine) (1934–2008), folk singer, was born 16 September 1934 in 'Beaufort', Glasthule (Sandycove), Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, eldest of three sons and two daughters of Patrick ('Paddy') Drew, carpenter, and Margaret ('Peg') Drew (née Maher), a seamstress…...
Dubourg, Matthew
Dubourg, Matthew (1703–67), violinist, was born in London in 1703, the natural son of a dancing-master named Isaacs. He studied the violin under Francesco Geminiani (1687–1762), who was a pupil of Corelli and one of the foremost violinists of his day, and established an early reputation…...
Duff, Arthur Knox
Duff, Arthur Knox (1899–1956), composer, arranger, and music producer, was born 13 March 1899 at 27 Bloomfield Avenue, Dublin. His father, John William Duff, was from King's Co. (Offaly) and worked first as an accountant, later as a clerk in a local tobacco factory on the South…...
Duignan, Mary Ann (‘Chicago May’)
Duignan, Mary Ann (‘Chicago May’) (1871–1929), criminal and prostitute, was born c.26 December 1871 in Edenmore, Ballinamuck, Co. Longford, eldest among two daughters and three sons of Francis Duignan (1837–1930), farmer, and Anne Duignan (née Gray) (1852–1924); the pet name ‘…...
Dukes, Frederick Ernest (‘Fred’)
Dukes, Frederick Ernest (‘Fred’) (1912–98), engineer and campanologist, was born 23 May 1912 in Inchicore, Dublin, eldest of two sons and one daughter of George Dukes, railway foreman, originally of Staffordshire, then Dublin, and Mary Elizabeth (‘Lillie’) Dukes (née Erskine), of…...
Dunphy, Sean
Dunphy, Sean (1937–2011), showband and cabaret singer, was born John Michael Dunphy on 30 November 1937 in the family home at 17 London Bridge Road, Irishtown, Dublin, son of Patrick Dunphy, a plasterer, and Mary Dunphy (née Farrell). Following his father into a building trade, he…...
Edwin (Richards), Elizabeth Rebecca
Edwin (Richards), Elizabeth Rebecca (1771?–1854), actress and singer, was the daughter of William Talbot Richards and his wife Sarah, who acted in English, Scottish and Irish provincial theatres, and at Crow Street in Dublin. Records are unclear on her date and place of birth.…...
Ennis, Séamus
Ennis, Séamus (1919–82), musician, folklorist, singer, and broadcaster, was born 5 May 1919 in Jamestown Lodge, Finglas, Dublin, son of James Ennis, civil servant and warpiper from Dublin, and Mary Josephine Ennis (née McCabe) from Co. Monaghan. He had three sisters and two brothers.…...
Esposito, Michele
Esposito, Michele (1855–1929), musician and professor of piano at the RIAM, was born 29 September 1855 at Castellammare di Stabia, near Naples, in Italy. In 1865 he won a scholarship to the Naples Conservatory where he studied piano…...
Fahy, Francis Arthur
Fahy, Francis Arthur (1854–1935), songwriter and Irish-language activist, was born 27 September 1854 at Kinvara, Co. Galway, one of eight children of Thomas Fahy, shopkeeper, of Co. Clare, and Celia Fahy (née Marlborough) of Gort, Co. Galway. Educated at Kinvara national school, he…...
Fay, Martin Joseph
Fay, Martin Joseph (1936–2012), musician, was born on 19 September 1936 at the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, the youngest of four children, three boys and a girl, to parents Joseph Christopher Fay, a motor vehicle driver, and Annie Fay (née Kelly). Shortly before Martin's birth his…...
Feeney, John (‘Jack’)
Feeney, John (‘Jack’) (1903–67), singer, was born 9 August 1903 in Swinford, Co. Mayo, fourth of seven surviving children (five sons and two daughters) of Patrick Feeney (1865–1914/15), grocer, originally from Co. Leitrim, and Mary Feeney (née Kelly) (1875–1925), a daughter of the…...
Fenton, Tony
Fenton, Tony (Anthony Fagan, ‘the Dude’) (1961–2015), music broadcaster and disc jockey (DJ), was born Anthony James Fagan in Donnycarney, Co. Dublin, on 25 March 1961, the second of four sons and one daughter to Brendan Fagan, a carpenter with his own business, and his…...
Ferguson, Howard
Ferguson, Howard (1908–99), composer, pianist, and musicologist, was born 21 October 1908 at 14 Deramore Park South, Belfast, youngest among five children of Stanley Ferguson, solicitor and a managing director of the Ulster Bank, and Edith Frances Ferguson (née Carr). He was taught…...
Field, John
Field, John (1782–1837), pianist and composer, was born 16 or 26 July 1782 in Golden Lane, Dublin, and baptised at St Werburgh's church on 5 September. He was the eldest son of a Dublin couple, Robert Field, a theatre violinist (himself the son of John Field, a professional organist…...
Fitzgerald, Geraldine Mary Wilma
Fitzgerald, Geraldine Mary Wilma (1913–2005), actress and stage director, was born 24 November 1913 at 85 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin, one of two daughters and two sons of Edward Martin Fitzgerald (1886–1965), a lawyer, who was Roman catholic, and his wife Edith Marie (née Richards) (…...
Fleischmann, Aloys Georg
Fleischmann, Aloys Georg (1910–92), composer, conductor, and musicologist, was born 13 April 1910 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, only child of Aloys Georg Fleischmann (b. Dachau, Bavaria, 24 April 1880; d. Cork, 3 January 1964), who came to Cork city in 1906 as organist and choir master…...
Fleischmann, Aloys Georg
Fleischmann, Aloys Georg (1880–1964), composer, conductor, choir master and organist, was born on 24 April 1880 in Dachau, Bavaria, Germany. His father (also Aloys), a highly respected guild craftsman (a master shoemaker), was born in the nearby hamlet of Eisolzried in 1844 and…...
Fleischmann, Maria Theresa Mathilda ('Tilly')
Fleischmann, Maria Theresa Mathilda ('Tilly') (1882–1967), pianist and teacher, was born 2 April 1882 at 14 Dyke Parade, Cork, the second of nine children of German immigrants, Hans Conrad Swertz and his wife Walburga (née Rössler). Her early musical education was largely overseen…...
Fleming, Patrick
Fleming, Patrick (Fléimionn, Pádraig) (d. 1678), tory, was the son of James Fleming of Siddan, Co. Meath, who had recovered his estates after the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. Nothing is known of his mother, and his early life remains obscure. According to tradition,…...
Flood, William Henry Grattan
Flood, William Henry Grattan (1859–1928), musician and historian, was born 1 November 1859 at Lismore, Co. Waterford, eldest son of William Flood and his wife Catherine (née Fitzsimon). His mother gave him his first musical training, and he continued his musical studies during his…...
Foley, Allan James
Foley, Allan James (1835–99), opera singer, was born 7 August 1835 at Cahir, Co. Tipperary; nothing is known of his family background. He was trained as a carpenter, but abandoned this after it was discovered that he had an excellent singing voice. Moving to Naples, he studied under…...